80% say ‘Net access fundamental right, split on regulation

A majority of the world believes that all people should have access to the …

Access to the Internet is a fundamental right to nearly four out of five adults across the globe, and those in South Korea, Mexico, and China seem to have the strongest feelings on the topic. This is according to a report (PDF) by the BBC World Service, which polled 27,973 adults on their feelings about, usage of, and concerns about the Internet. Although users are somewhat divided on whether the Internet should be regulated, they are in agreement on its usefulness for learning and information discovery.

Across all 26 countries, 79 percent of Internet and non-Internet users said that they felt that Internet access should be "the fundamental right of all people." When isolated for people who already use the Internet, that number went up to 87 percent. Almost universally (90 percent), respondents said that the Internet was a good place to learn and almost 80 percent said the Internet brought them greater freedom.

This undoubtedly leaves many of us with warm fuzzies, but survey respondents expressed a number of worries when it comes to Internet use. One of the top concerns was the ability to express opinions online safely—overall, respondents were split almost evenly over this issue, and users in South Korea, Germany, France, and Japan held the strongest beliefs that they could not safely express opinions while surfing. Other major areas of concern were fraud (leading at 32 percent) as well as violent or explicit content (27 percent) and threats to privacy (20 percent).

Government regulation of the Internet ended up being a somewhat divisive issue among those surveyed, however. A little more than half agreed that the Internet should never be regulated by any level of government, though certain regions had significantly differing opinions on the topic. For example, China, Thailand, Indonesia, and much of Europe either "somewhat" or "strongly" disagreed with such a statement. Conversely, users in Mexico, Nigeria, and South Korea were heavily against government regulation. (The US fell mostly in the middle, with 57 percent against government regulation).

Secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Dr. Hamadoun Toure, told the BBC that everyone should be able to participate in our "knowledge society" online and that it's a powerful source of enlightenment. He said that, because of this, governments must "regard the Internet as basic infrastructure—just like roads, waste and water."

Indeed, more governments are beginning to regard Internet access as a utility. Monticello, MN even made headlines last June after a court ruled in favor of the town saying that Internet was a utility and that it could be financed as such. However, there are still large swaths of people, both in the US and around the globe, who have yet to get even basic Internet access. With 44 percent of all respondents telling the BBC that they simply cannot cope without Internet access, it's clear that there's still plenty of work to do in getting that "fundamental right" to citizens of the world.